Kool-Aid started life as a liquid — it only became a powder because glass bottles of it kept breaking in the post.
From Fruit Smack to Kool-Aid powder
In the 1920s, Edwin Perkins ran a mail-order business in Hastings, Nebraska, selling flavouring concentrates, including a bottled fruit drink called Fruit Smack. Glass bottles were expensive to ship and prone to breaking or leaking. In 1927, Perkins worked out how to strip the liquid out, leaving a powdered concentrate he repackaged as Kool-Aid. Sold for 10 cents a packet, it caught on through the Great Depression precisely because a family could stretch it into a full pitcher for almost nothing.
Powder vs ready-to-drink
- Classic powder — unsweetened; needs a cup of sugar and water added at home.
- Pre-sweetened powder — a sugar-included version launched later for convenience.
- Kool-Aid Jammers / Bursts — ready-to-drink pouches and bottles that need no mixing at all.
A cultural fixture in the US
Kraft Foods (now Kraft Heinz) has owned Kool-Aid since the 1950s, and the brand built a genuine cultural footprint beyond the drink itself: the grinning Kool-Aid Man mascot, an annual Kool-Aid Days festival in Hastings, and the widely used phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid." That phrase traces back to the 1978 Jonestown mass suicide — even though the drink actually used there was reportedly a rival brand, Flavor Aid — but it attached itself to Kool-Aid's name regardless, and now describes unquestioning belief in a group or idea.
A taste of Americana on UK shelves
Kool-Aid never became a British household name the way it did in the US, so it's mostly found here through American candy and snacks importers rather than mainstream UK supermarkets, alongside other US imports UK shoppers seek out specifically for the novelty.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented Kool-Aid and when?
Edwin Perkins invented Kool-Aid in 1927 in Hastings, Nebraska, by removing the liquid from his earlier drink concentrate Fruit Smack to create a cheaper-to-ship powder.
What is the difference between Kool-Aid powder and ready-to-drink Kool-Aid?
The classic powder is unsweetened and needs sugar and water added at home, while ready-to-drink formats like Kool-Aid Jammers pouches are pre-mixed and pre-sweetened.
Where does the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" come from?
It is linked to the 1978 Jonestown tragedy, even though the drink actually used there was a different brand, Flavor Aid. The phrase stuck to Kool-Aid regardless and now means blind loyalty to an idea.